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Find Out What the Hell Happened to Terrence Howard

Hollywood giveth and taketh away. In 2005, Terrence Howard scored an Oscar nomination for Hustle & Flow, then parlayed that exposure into a major role in _Iron Man, _playing War Machine. He was actually paid more than Robert Downey Jr. for that one, but who's counting? Then he hit the skids. He and Marvel got into a contract dispute, and Don Cheadle replaced him in the sequel. His urban country album (yeah, that's a real thing) also failed to ignite, and Googling "Terrence Howard" turned up more on his very-litigious divorce than his work. But the thing is: We never gave up on this guy, and how could we? He's a rare talent whose alien-green eyes can cut an enemy clean. This spring, Howard stages a welcome comeback with roles in Dead Man Down (directed by the bad-ass Swede who did the Dragon Tattoo movies overseas), and Robert Redford's political thriller The Company You Keep, about the Weather Underground. Oh, and did we mention the dude just became a grandfather at age 43? It's hard out there for a pimp.

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GQ: You play a mobster in Dead Man Down. Is it fun to play the bad guy?

Terrence Howard: Well, look at all the crap that's gone on with me on the personal level. It fitmy life. I was going through so much in court. You know, I guess they see me as a bad guy. So it's back to black.

GQ: Are you talking about what happened with your ex-wife? You accused her of extortion. She said you'd been violent.

Terrence Howard: Yeah. Just all the stuff with that. You know, when you feel betrayed by someone that you trust the most... As an actor, you look for something that's going to let you express some of your inner emotions and anger. I should have never fought with her publicly. I should never have said anything bad about her, I don't care what was the cause. You just love your family.

GQ: Dead Man Down is about revenge. Can you remember a time when you wanted revenge?

Terrence Howard: Oh yeah. (laughing) I wanted revenge for being born.

GQ: Come on.

Terrence Howard: Honestly. I wanted revenge for the bullies that I grew up with. I wanted revenge for the some of the travesties that occurred in my career. But you can't get revenge. You've just gotta keep moving forward.

GQ: Looking back, is there something you'd have done differently with Marvel?

Terrence Howard: No, no. I couldn't do anything differently. I just tried to go by the contract. When they didn't want to carry the contract anymore all I could do was wish them the best. They've got a nice little franchise on their hands.

GQ: That's diplomatic. Were you at least happy that War Machine wasn't onscreen in The Avengers?

Terrence Howard: I didn't know that. I didn't see it.

GQ: In 2011, you played Nelson Mandela opposite Jennifer Hudson's Winnie, but that film never came out. What happened?

Terrence Howard: That broke my heart. That was the best work I've ever done in my life. I don't know. There's a lot of people involved in the making of movies. Maybe it'll come out later on.

GQ: That must be frustrating.

Terrence Howard: For every athlete, for every fighter—he's looking for the battle that he cannot win. And if by some great act of the gods and the universe you prove successful in that conquest... It's like _Hustle & Flow _for me. I knew that would either kill my career or give birth to it. It's the same thing with Nelson. If you fail at Nelson, you don't get to comeback and say, 'Well, I was trying. Let me do it again.' There are no re-takes.

GQ: Are you making calls, trying to have it seen?

Terrence Howard: That's not my hat. My hat was the actor.

GQ: You play a detective or law officer in four upcoming films, including The Company You Keep. What gives?

Terrence Howard: That's funny, isn't it? In real life, I despise law. I think mankind does better in small groups—with communities looking after each other instead of a huge government.

GQ: Did you vote in the last election?

Terrence Howard: I voted for me.

**GQ: In a recent interview you talked about walking away from the business. **

Terrence Howard: I'm thinking about running away! They keep pulling me back. I asked Sidney Poitier if he was going to act again. He said, If he's lucky he may have 10 years left in his life and he doesn't want to spend the next 10 years doing an impersonation of himself.

GQ: He's 85 years old. And he's Sidney Poitier!

Terrence Howard: Yeah, but I've done a good 70 movies. I've played a lot of characters. Unless I can find something new and worth exploring, I don't really take too much to light in repeating some glory days.

GQ: Is it important for you to get back to the Oscars?

Terrence Howard: No. I won that Oscar in my heart.

GQ: You're a man of science, I found out. You've filed some patents, and are working with a company to grow man-made diamonds.

Terrence Howard: Yeah. I went to school for chemical engineering and applied materials. I'm working with a company called SCIO. We grow diamonds.

GQ: How's the quality?

Terrence Howard: Better. Mined diamonds have a lot of irregularities. With a controlled setting we can have tighter bonds of the carbon. I have some patents related to diamonds. Some are related to harmonic fusion.

GQ: What's that? I haven't taken science class since high school.

Terrence Howard: It's zero point technology. Think about the one thing that's not moving in the universe, that everything holds on to. That's zero point technology. If you control the one thing everything rests upon then you control everything. There's no longer the laws of conservation of energy. It's the laws of transmutation of energy. It's alchemy.

GQ: Ok. I heard you're a grandfather now.

Terrence Howard: I am. I love it. I'm 43. And my daughter—she got married last year and you she had a baby this year.

GQ: She's 18. What did you say when told you she was having a baby?

Terrence Howard: I was like, 'Go on. Congratulations.'

GQ: Does it make you feel old?

Terrence Howard: You see the world through much broader perspectives. And you're more aware of your actions your thoughts and how it will affect your family. And the families _around _your family. You have to be a lot more careful. But you also relax a little bit. Because, you know, you've done your duty. I've reproduced and my reproductions have reproduced.

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